Can you use kreg jig on plywood

Wood is constantly absorbing and giving off moisture, just as it would when it was alive. Remember earlier how I described wood like a box of drinking straws.

When the drinking straws, ummm wood , fills with moisture it swells and gets bigger. When it loses moisture it shrinks and gets smaller. The top looked great in the summer, but in the cooler months the joints of the top just ever so slightly pulled away from each other.

And the edge of one of the pieces even started to slightly curl up. Can you stop wood movement? The short answer is no, but you can help reduce some of these issues by gluing the joints. Almost all of us have had a finish ruined by glue squeeze out. The glue squeezed out, we stained the piece and the glue prevented the stain from soaking into the wood.

This glue creates a strong bond and is stainable. By now we know how a pocket hole joint works. A pocket screw is driven through an angled pocket hole, and the screw draws the two pieces of wood tightly together. Despite this, you still need to use clamps to properly align the joint before attaching it the joint with pocket screws.

Nothing beats the mechanical advantage of a clamp. Your pocket hole joints will stay in place, the joints will fit better and your furniture projects will look more professional. This way I can layout the entire assembly, get all of the joints the way I want them, tighten the clamps and attach with pocket screws.

Use clamps when you assemble your pocket hole joints, and the look of your projects will go from amateur to professional. Pocket screws are specifically designed to work with pocket holes. Pocket screws have threads only on the lower portion, while the upper portion, or shank is not threaded. This design allows the shank of the pocket screw to slide through the pocket hole and pull the joint tight together. Unlike pocket screws , wood screws have threads along the entire length of the shank.

Wood screws may not pull the boards together resulting in a loose-fitting joint. Worse yet wood screws may crack the board. Use only Kreg brand pocket screws or another authentic pocket screw by another brand to create a tight pocket hole joint. Pocket screws are available in coarse thread and a fine thread. Use coarse thread pocket screws for softwoods like pine, plywood, particle board and MDF. Use fine thread pocket screws for hardwoods like oak, maple, hickory, cherry, walnut and birch. Always use the correct length pocket screw for the pocket hole you have drilled.

Tip: When I use different length screws for a furniture project I will sometimes write lightly in pencil next to the pocket the length of screw I need to use. Also, Kreg jig allows us to attach the boards using pocket hole screws that are stronger than merely gluing the boards together as discussed in the above section.

First, they need specialized screws to fit the pocket hole, and the process will leave a hole on the boards that might not be aesthetically pleasing. Kreg is, as mentioned, a brand that produces pocket hole jigs, and they actually offer several different Kreg jig products, namely:. Also the more screws you use the stronger the box will be.

Do you think this adds much strength? Hi Robert, I also use wood glue with pocket holes, but the main reason why I use glue is to keep the boards from coming apart over time. After heavy use, the joints might come loose, and the chair becomes squeaky. But if you use pocket holes with wood glue, those joints will not come apart.

James Pocket hole jigs are a fine way to make furniture and other products but my problem is finding the screws that adjust to leagth of the project. Especially the size of the head of the screw plus leagth in finding those screws. Sometimes the head does not fit or is hidden unless you sand it down. So were do I find the proper screws. Love the illustrations.

Great article! Thank you. Is there an advantage to using glue as well? Hi Joe, When I build wood projects, I try to use wood glue, especially on projects like a chair or a bench. Wood glue keeps the wood together and prevents pocket hole screws to come lose on furniture like a chair that is heavily used.

When the screws come lose the chair will become squeaky. Hi Jeff, Pocket hole screws have a flat head, this makes the screws pull the boards together when driving them it. Yes the glue is stronger than the wood but the wood is not all that strong, which is why we use mechanical fasteners or joints.

The glue would be fine but the wood itself would fail. No butt joint is as strong as a mortise and tenon. Should you glue pocket hole joints? Glue is not needed for face frames when pocket holes are used with 2 screws at each joint. However consider this if you glue the face frames on the box and use pocketholes to put the face frame on, since you are glueing it all together at once with no overspill of glue on the front of the face frame from the joints.

Which Kreg screws for plywood? Coarse Kreg Screws work great for these woods and are the preferred choice for sheet goods like plywood and MDF. Hardwoods like oak, maple, and cherry, on the other hand, are too hard and dense for coarse-thread screws. The aggressive threads tend to tear the wood fibers, resulting in splits in your wood. What size pocket hole screws do I use? Remember Me? What's New? Results 1 to 12 of I searched for this and didn't find it. I assume I would need the micro pocket drill guide accesssory to do this.

I am building a box that will be upholstered. Would I be better off just placing a board inside the corner and screwing into that instead of pocket holes? It doesn't matter that the screws are visible as they will be covered. Google Sponsor Google Sponsor. Absolutely and you do not need the micro jig; save your money.